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CMA Capitol Insight: It's Finally Over...

October 10, 2011

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CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Greg Lucas, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature.

It's Finally Over...

At midnight last night the clock ran out on Gov. Jerry Brown having to deal with the 600-odd – sometimes in more ways than one – pieces of legislation lawmakers sent to him before they left Sacramento for the year back in September. In slogging through the measures, the Democratic governor has made fun of a few bills and used them as vehicles for political jabs. One bill allowing a museum (that has waited three years for clearance) to stuff and exhibit a dead mountain lion was signed with the comment: "This presumably important bill earned overwhelming support by both Republicans and Democrats. If only the same energetic bipartisan spirit could be applied to creating clean energy jobs and ending tax laws that send jobs out of state." There were a number of bills signed without comment as well. Two measures authored by the Committee on Insurance list the new law's subject matter as "insurance." One, which presumably is more significant, says its subject is "insurance omnibus." There are also bills on the list dealing with air bags and auto repair dealers, congestion at California's ports, the making of optical discs, menu labeling, satellite wagering, retired public accountants and "vertebrate pest control: carbon monoxide."

Whiff on this, You Stinkin' BRP...

The vertebrate pest control measure allows what the official analysis calls "BRPs to be killed with CO." A BRP turns out to be a "Burrowing Rodent Pest, " which hopefully is something worse than snuggling down on a chilly evening and snagging a lot of the covers in the process. CO is, of course, carbon monoxide. This new law allows CO to be administered by ranchers and farmers as an agent of death to BRPs. The claim is that BRPS can carry bubonic plague and their tunnel networks make the ground unstable for livestock above. (Ever tried to tip a cow?) Also, Californians are told, execution by CO is more humane and used in 49 other states. (Everyone else is doing it, why aren't we?) But one of the major arguments for the bill is that it corrects 13-year-old legislation that said CO couldn't be used to kill an animal. The bill was aimed at outlawing CO gas chambers in animal shelters but didn't take into account CO's "humane " use in eradicating BRPs. Ergo, this new law is needed to rectify that. During those 13 years without legal clarification does it seem remotely believable that any stout-hearted California farmer or rancher was saying, "Hell, we can't gas ‘em, the government says that would be wrong." Our tax dollars at work.

Even Scarier...

For all the obvious reasons, the new law on that list receiving the most media attention deals with male circumsion. It is neither pro nor con circumcision. It is pro choice. The legislation was prompted by efforts to place a measure on San Francisco's November ballot to ban the procedure. A court subsequently invalidated the proposal saying it was preempted by state law. Under the law signed by Gov. Brown, cities and counties are prevented from prohibiting or restricting the practice of circumcision, which the law says "has a wide array of health and affiliative benefits." Brown's signature on the bill "reaffirms that municipalities cannot take away parents' rights to make medical and religious decisions for their own children," said Abby Michelson Porth of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

On the Plus Side...

Legislation was signed by the Democratic governor aimed at converting the state's food deserts into oases through creation of the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative. Contingent on federal money, the new law attempts to eradicate the state's "food deserts" and steer Californians away from "food swamps." Food deserts are areas, usually low income, with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods. A food swamp is an area where the high calorie foods such as those sold at convenience stores and fast food outlets overwhelm the healthy food options. The federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative, announced last year by President Obama, proposes spending $400 million nationwide as seed money to attract matching private or state dollars to expand healthy food options in urban and rural food deserts – mainly by increasing the number of grocery stores. The bill signed by Gov. Brown – AB 581 by Assembly Speaker John Perez, a Los Angeles Democrat – creates an account for that federal money, should California receive any. It also calls on the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the state Department of Public Health to make recommendations on how best to improve access to healthier food in California's food deserts.

Among the Governor's Vetoes...

Was a measure to require extra warnings for the 40 percent of women over age 40 with breast tissue dense enough to mask or mimic cancers on mammograms. Brown's veto message echoed some of the concerns raised by CMA in opposing the bill: "While I wholeheartedly support everyone's right to information about their own health, the notice in this bill gave me pause. I talked to many people, including doctors I respect, about the effects of the notice – both its risks and benefits – and struggled over the words. Were they a path to greater knowledge or unnecessary anxiety? My conclusion was this: Every patient needs health information they can use. For women, that likely includes information about breast density. But the notice contained in this bill ... advises that additional screening may be beneficial. If the state must mandate a notice about breast density – and I am not certain it should – such a notice must be more carefully crafted, with words that educate more than they prescribe."

The Things One Learns in a Dentist's Chair...

Quite a few actually since their fingers are in your mouth and all you can do is listen. On a recent visit – no cavities, Woohoo! – the dentist was discussing xylitol, a sugar that keeps bacteria from sticking to teeth and gums. By doing so, xylitol reduces levels of Streptococcus mutans, the icky stuff that causes plaque, inflammation and –ultimately – cavities. A naturally occurring sweetener, xylitol was discovered in the 19th century and became popular in Europe as a sweetener for diabetics since it didn't affect insulin levels. Researchers in Finland discovered the dental benefits in the 1970s. Trident, for instance, offers xylitol gum. There is also xylitol candy, lollipops, jam, mints and chocolates on the market. Perfect for trick-or-treaters, xylitol's marketers would no doubt volunteer.

Science Fact Not Fiction...

As an ever rapidly increasing amount of life moves to the Internet, the quest for the securest passwords and usernames has intensified accordingly. There are already companies that offer a single login that will be recognized by multiple websites. Some innovators contend that soon that single login can be accomplished through a cell phone. A promoter of cell phones as "keys" to unlock the Web said this to TechNewsDaily: "Cell phones today are already smarter than the computers that took Apollo 11 to the moon." Even more intriguing is growing use of biometric passwords based on the unique properties of fingerprints, faces and iris patterns, for example. One company markets a device that reads the vein patterns in someone's palm, arguing its 0.00008 percent error rate is infinitely superior to that of fingerprints. The future is now.

Well Said...

Gov. Brown on the death of Steve Jobs: "Steve Jobs was a great California innovator who demonstrated what a totally independent and creative mind can accomplish. Few people have made such a powerful and elegant imprint on our lives." Name five others. OK, how about three?